Test Lab Services

Hubbell Power Systems, Inc. (HPS) manufactures a wide variety of products for the electric utility, telecommunications, residential and commercial construction, transportation, gas and water industries. Hubbell operates two engineering test laboratories, providing testing services in support of internal engineering research and product development. The Hubbell Laboratories are also contracted by third-party customers and manufacturers for confidential testing.

Download our Test Lab Services brochure for more information.

Chance® Engineering Research Laboratory

The F. Gano Chance Engineering Research Laboratory, located in Centralia, Missouri, was constructed in 1961 by the then A.B. Chance Company. Today the fully renovated building hosts the Engineering Laboratory and the HPS Customer Service Center and is located across the street from the Distribution Center.

The facility consists of four primary test laboratories: Short Circuit, High Voltage, Mechanical, and Environmental. Additionally, machine shop facilities are located on site. The building contains 26,000 sq-ft of laboratory space under roof and is surrounded by acres of green field space used for various outdoor testing.

Frank B. Black Research Center

The Frank B. Black Research Center, conveniently located in Wadsworth, Ohio, south of Cleveland, was opened in 1968 by the Ohio Brass Company with the primary purpose of developing and testing world- class insulators, surge arresters and cable accessories for underground systems.

Today the Research Center is the home for Hubbell’s state of the art High Voltage Test Laboratory in addition to facilities for arrester MOV block testing, mechanical, environmental and polymer development testing.

Short Circuit Laboratory

Located in Centralia, Missouri, the Short Circuit Laboratory is used to establish high current withstand and interruption ratings on Hubbell made switchgear, fusing, arresters, insulators, connectors and grounding products. In 2014, Hubbell completed a 5 million dollar upgrade to the laboratory, which consisted of re-manufacturing the generator rotor, installation of solid state control equipment, and improvements in digital data acquisition and facilities.

High Voltage Test Laboratories

The High Voltage Test Laboratory in Wadsworth, Ohio is one of the premiere test locations in North America for performing High Voltage AC and Impulse testing. In 2014, the laboratory completed the installation of a Haefely / Hipotronics 800kV Series–Resonant Test Set in addition to a Haefely DDX 9121 Partial Discharge and RIV Detector Measurement System for the corona tests on insulators, arresters and transmission grade smart grid products.

The laboratory has multiple high voltage impulse Generators with capability up to 5,000kV peak voltage. The High Voltage Laboratory in Centralia, Missouri has a 1,000Kv voltage generator in addition to impulse capability up to 2,000kV peak voltage.

Both high voltage laboratories are contained in large indoor test bays, providing an ideal test environment independent of weather conditions, critical for corona testing and certification testing of aerial devices.